664 HINDU PROPENSITY FOR LITIGATION
days, till their turn to be heard comes, leaving, as they must in the meantime their families without any means of subsistence? From this point of view the new system is all to the advantage of the rich and influential and to the detriment of the poor, against whom the former can bring vexatious suits with impunity. So great is the dread amongst the poorer Hindus of these lengthy processes, and of the prolonged absences from their homes which they entail, that when they are cited to appear as witnesses before these new
tribunals, they will often spend large sums in bribing the official who brings the summons, if any means whatever can
be found by which they can elude the hateful business. If
brawls or quarrels arise in a village, the neighbours, far from interposing and trying to restore peace, retire promptly to their own houses, terribly afraid lest they may be called as
witnesses in court, and thus waste much precious time which otherwise might be profitably employed in the fields or in the house.
The conclusion to be drawn from this seems to be that under the new system of judicial administration sufficient attention has not been paid to the peculiar character, disposition, and prejudices of the people for whose benefit it was devised. It was not sufficiently borne in mind that nowhere in the whole world is there another race of men so obstinate, so deceitful, and so litigious as the Hindus, partly from faults of training and partly from their deep-seated attachment to caste customs. What we should think trifles appear to them of the utmost importance, and are often the cause of lawsuits. I defy the most active, zealous, and intelligent judge, especially in view of the enormous tract of country over which he has to administer justice— I defy him, I repeat, to hear one-fifth of the grievances, either real or imaginary, which people are ready to pour into his ears. Three fourths at least of the legal proceedings have to do with the most petty concerns, though they are far from being regarded as such by the complainants. They are usually about small debts, quarrels, slanders, trifling assaults without bloodshed, petty larceny, & c. The settlement of these small matters might very well be removed from the jurisdiction of the higher courts and placed in the hands of village panchayats or petty courts of arbitration, composed of the best materials